The present invention relates to a coin sorting apparatus for sorting coins of mixed denominations, and a coin receiving system provided with such a coin sorting apparatus.
Generally, a conventional coin sorting apparatus included in a coin receiving system is provided with a single coin sorting unit that sorts coins of mixed denominations sequentially by denomination.
The coin sorting unit of the conventional coin sorting apparatus, in general, conveys coins successively in a horizontal direction along a coin passage, sorts the coins by diameter, and drops coins of different denominations through sorting holes of sizes respectively corresponding to denominations. Generally, a coin feed unit for feeding coins one by one into the coin passage is so constructed as to push coins one by one from a rotating feed disk through a thickness-limiting plate into the coin passage.
This conventional coin sorting apparatus has the following problems. The numbers of diameter and thickness classes of coins to be sorted increase when the denominations of coins to be sorted increases and, in some cases, it is difficult for the conventional coin sorting apparatus to sort coins of a large number of mixed denominations by a single coin sorting unit. Even if the coin sorting apparatus could sort those coins, only limited sorting methods are feasible by the coin sorting unit.
As regards Euro coins, in particular, there are Euro coins of eight denominations and the countries associated with Euro coins are in the process of currency unification for unifying their traditional currency systems into the common Euro currency system. Thus both the coins of the currency systems of those countries and Euro coins are used. The foregoing problem in the conventional coin sorting apparatus becomes more serious when those coins of such a large variety of denominations must be sorted.
FIG. 45 shows the lower surface 401b of a stationary disk 401 included in a prior art rotary disk type coin sorting apparatus disclosed in JP-A-63-250793 (1988) in a schematic plan view. The coin sorting apparatus is provided with a rotary disk, not shown, disposed under the lower surface 401b of the stationary disk 401, having a resilient upper surface and capable of rotation. The stationary disk 401 is provided with a central coin-feed opening 401a. Coins C fed into the coin-feed opening 401a slide along the lower surface 401b of the stationary disk 401 as the rotary disk rotates.
The stationary disk 401 guides and sorts the coins C by diameter as the coins C slide along the lower surface 401b thereof. More specifically, a coin guide passage 410 is formed in the lower surface 401b of the stationary disk 401 so as to face the coin-feed opening 401a. The coin guide passage 410 has a coin guide section 411 for guiding coins C fed into the coin-feed opening 401a, and a land 413 for separating superposed coins C.
A coin arranging part 402 is formed contiguously with the coin guide passage 410. Coins C are moved radalaly outward by centrifugal force acting thereon and their edges engage the outer edge 404 of the coin arranging part 402, whereby the coins C are arranged sequentially. As the rotary disk rotates, the coins C thus arranged by the coin arranging part 402 are held resiliently between the lower surface 401b of the stationary disk 401 and the resilient upper surface of the rotary disk and are moved along and inside a geometric circular guide line 406.
FIG. 45 shows an arrangement for sorting coins of three denominations, i.e., large coins C1 having a big diameter, medium coins C2 having a medium diameter and small coins C3 having a small diameter, by way of example. A small coin guide groove 415a, a medium coin guide groove 415b and a large coin guide groove 415c are arranged in that order along the guide line 406 from the upstream side downward. The guide grooves 415a, 415b and 415c selectively guide only small coins C3, medium coins C2 and large coins C1, respectively, so as to eject respective coins outside the stationary disk 401.
More concretely, the small coin guide groove 415a permits only small coins C3 among coins moving along the guide line 406 to enter therein, guides small coins C3 outward by the radial inner edge 416a so that small coins C3 are ejected from the stationary disk 401, and does not permit large coins C1 and middle coins C2 to enter therein. The medium coin guide groove 415b permits only medium coins C2 to enter therein, guides medium coins C2 outward by the radial inner edge 416b so that medium coins C2 are ejected from the stationary disk 401, and does not permit large coins C1 to enter therein. The large coin guide groove 415c permits large coins C1 passed by the guide grooves 415a and 415b to enter therein and guides large coins C1 outward by the radial inner edge 416c so that small coins C3 are ejected from the stationary disk 401.
This prior art coin sorting apparatus has the following problems. Since coins C are arranged in succession along the guide line 406 by the coin arranging part 402 by the agency of centrifugal force acting on coins C, the rotary disk needs to be at a comparatively high rotating speed. Consequently, the degree of freedom for determining the rotating speed of the rotary disk, i.e., sorting speed, is reduced.
When the coin sorting apparatus is jammed with coins, it is advantageous if the sorting process can be continued by rotating the rotary disk in the normal direction after temporarily reversing the rotary disk. However, coins which have been moved outside the guide line 406 by the respective radial inner edges 416a to 416c of the coin guide grooves 415a to 415c cannot be moved back to their initial positions inside the guide line 406 even if the rotary disk is reversed. Thus, the coin sorting apparatus is unable to resume its sorting operation normally even if the rotary disk is rotated in the normal direction after temporarily reversing the rotary disk.
There have been proposed coin sorting apparatuses, including the foregoing prior art coin sorting apparatus, which sort coins sliding along the lower surface of a stationary disk by diameter. In those prior art coin sorting apparatus, coins held between a resilient member attached to the upper surface of a rotary disk and a stationary disk are moved in the rotating direction of the rotary disk. Coins moved in the rotating direction of the rotary disk slide relative to the lower surface of the stationary member, are sorted by diameter, and sorted coins are ejected outside from the stationary disk. Thus the coins are moved spirally along the lower surface of the stationary disk.
Those coin sorting apparatuses have the following problems. The surface of the resilient member is coated with a synthetic rubber having a comparatively low corrosion resistance, such as butyl rubber. The resilient member is abraded comparatively rapidly and the coin conveying ability of the resilient member is reduced in a comparatively short time, so that it is difficult for the coin sorting apparatuses to maintain ability to carry out a reliable coin sorting operation for a long period of time.
The surface of the resilient member is flat and smooth and has an isotropic coin holding ability. Therefore, a force exerted on coins by the resilient member to restrain coins from radial movement increases excessively if the moving ability of the resilient member to move coins in the rotating direction of the rotary disk is increased. Such contradictory conditions are a serious obstacle to the enhancement of the reliability of the coin sorting operation.
A prior art coin sorting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2557278 shown in FIGS. 46 and 47 has a guide structure 513 for guiding coins C, defining a substantially horizontal passage, and a conveyor belt 514 for conveying coins C along the guide structure 513. A coin feed unit 9 is disposed near an inlet end of the guide structure 513. The coin feed unit 9 is provided with a feed disk 90 for feeding coins C one by one onto the guide structure 513.
The guide structure 513 is provided in its middle part with an ejecting hole 511. A rotary member 510 is disposed under the ejecting hole 511. As shown in FIG. 46, an identification unit 516 is disposed on the upstream side of the ejecting hole 511 of the guide structure 513 to identify coins. A coin sensor 517 for detecting a coin C is disposed in a section between the identification unit 516 and the ejecting hole 511 of the passage.
As shown in FIG. 47, the rotary member 510 is supported for turning about an axis parallel to the carrying surface of the passage and perpendicular to a coin conveying direction in which coins C are conveyed. The rotary member 510 has a flat part 510A having a flat surface parallel to the axis of the rotary member 510 and a cylindrical part 510B having a cylindrical surface whose axis coincides with the axis of the rotary member 510. A pressure roller 515 is disposed at a position corresponding to the ejecting hole 511 in contact with the upper side of the conveyor belt 514 to press a coin C down.
The rotary member 510 can be turned by a rotary solenoid actuator R shown in FIG. 46 between a coin-passing position to support a coin C to enable the coin C to move past the ejecting hole 511, at which the cylindrical part 510B faces the ejecting hole 511 as shown in FIG. 47(a), and a coin-ejecting position to eject a coin C through the ejecting hole 511, at which the flat part 510A faces the ejecting hole 511 as shown in FIG. 47(b). FIG. 47(c) shows the rotary member 510 at a transient position through which the rotary member 510 is returned from the coin-ejecting position shown in FIG. 47(b) to the coin-passing position shown in FIG. 47(a). When the rotary member 510 is set at the coin-ejecting position shown in FIG. 47(b), the flat surface of the flat part 510A declines downstream relative to the passage of the guide structure 513.
This prior art coin sorting apparatus operates as follows.
(1) A coin C being conveyed through the guide structure 513 by the conveyor belt 514 is supported by the cylindrical part 510B of the rotary member 510 as the same moves over the ejecting hole 511 and is conveyed past the ejecting hole 511 when the rotary member 510 is set at the coin-passing position shown in FIG. 47 (a).
(2) A coin C being conveyed through the guide structure 513 by the conveyor belt 514 drops into the ejecting hole 511, slides down along the flat surface of the flat part 510A and is ejected when the rotary member 510 is at the coin-ejecting position shown in FIG. 47(b).
This coin sorting apparatus has the following problems. When the rotary member 510 is set at the coin-passing position shown in FIG. 47(a), a leading part of a coin C moving over the rotary member 510 moves over the edge of the ejecting hole 511 onto the passage, and then the coin C is partly held between the surface of the passage and the conveyor belt 514. If the rotary member 510 is turned toward the coin-ejecting position in this state, a part of the cylindrical part 510B supporting a back part of the coin C moves toward the upstream side of the guide structure 513 as shown in FIG. 47(b).
Accordingly, if the timing of turning the rotary member 510 from the coin-passing position toward the coin-ejecting position is advanced excessively, the preceding coin C cannot be successfully conveyed past the ejecting hole 511. This restriction on the timing of turning the rotary member 510 from the coin-passing position toward the coin-ejecting position is an obstacle to the enhancement of the sorting speed of the coin sorting process.
In addition, the coin moving straight in the conveying direction is passed over or dropped into the ejecting hole 511 along the same direction in a plane view. Thus, the difference between the diameter of the smallest coin C that can pass over the ejecting hole 511 with the rotary member 510 set at the coin-passing position (FIG. 47(a)) and the diameter of the largest coin C capable of dropping through the ejecting hole 511 with the rotary member 510 set at the coin-ejecting position (FIG. 47 (b)) should not be very large. That is, the prior art coin sorting apparatus is capable of sorting only coins having different diameters in a narrow range.
All the conventional coin receiving systems are capable of accepting only coins of the same specific currency unit, such as yen or dollar, and reject all the coins of other currency units. There are some coin receiving systems that convert the amount of money of a first currency unit (e.g. yen) into the corresponding amount of money of a second currency unit (e.g. dollar) and perform a money receiving procedure, which also is capable of accepting only coins of the same currency unit.
However, for example, the countries of the EU are in the process of currency unification for changing their old (traditional) currency units into the new currency unit xe2x80x9cEuroxe2x80x9d.: Therefore it is very convenient if both the coins of the old currency unit and the new currency unit can be accepted and a sum total amount of money in the new currency unit can be used for a money receiving procedure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coin sorting apparatus capable of sorting coins of many denominations with high reliability and of greatly increasing the degree of freedom of selection of sorting method for a sorting unit, and a coin receiving system provided with such a coin sorting apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin sorting apparatus provided with a rotary disk and having a high degree of freedom for setting the rotating speed of the rotary disk, and capable of continuing a normal sorting operation even if the rotation of the rotary disk in a normal direction is resumed after temporarily reversing the rotary disk.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin sorting apparatus capable of maintaining a reliable coin sorting operation for an extended period of time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin sorting apparatus capable of sorting coins at a sorting speed higher than that at which conventional coin sorting apparatuses sort coins, and of sorting coins of diameters in a range wider than that of diameters of coins that can be sorted by conventional coin sorting apparatuses.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin receiving system provided with a coin sorting apparatus and capable of accepting coins of both an old currency unit and a new currency unit, and of receiving the amount of money represented by those coins of different currency units in the sum total amount of money in the new currency unit.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin sorting apparatus for sorting coins of at least three denominations, comprising presorting means for broadly sorting the coins by size into those of at least two groups and main sorting means for sorting by denomination the coins of the respective groups sorted by the presorting means.
In the coin sorting apparatus, main sorting means sort the coins of respective groups broadly sorted by the presorting means, so that the number of denominations of coins to be dealt with by a single sorting operation can be reduced. Thus, coins of many denominations can be surely sorted and the degree of freedom of selection of a sorting method by which the main sorting means sort coins can be greatly increased. Accordingly, coins of denominations which are difficult to sort by a single coin sorting means, such as Euro coins, can be surely and smoothly sorted by a general coins sorting means.
In the coin sorting apparatus, the presorting means may include a stationary member provided with a central coin-feed opening, and a rotary disk supported for rotation and disposed under the stationary member closely adjacent to the lower surface of the stationary member. The presorting means may be constructed such that coins fed into the coin-feed opening of the stationary member slide along the lower surface of the stationary member as the rotary disk rotates. The stationary member may be provided with guide structures for selectively guiding the respective groups of coins sliding along the lower surface thereof. Thus, coins fed into the coin-feed opening of the stationary member slide along the lower surface of the stationary member and are selectively guided by guide structures to sort the coins into the groups, as the rotary disk rotates.
In the coin sorting apparatus, the main sorting means may include a guide passage for substantially horizontally guiding coins to be sorted, one by one. A conveying means conveys the coins along the guide passage and a plurality of sorting units, each for sorting out coins of one of the denominations, are arranged at intervals along the guide passage. The main sorting means conveys the coins to be sorted along the guide passage by the conveying means, and the sorting units sort out the coins of the corresponding denominations, respectively. The number of denominations to be sorted by the main sorting means is reduced to reduce the number of the sorting units and hence the length of the guide passage may be short. Thus, the coin sorting apparatus can be formed in a small size.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin receiving system for sorting coins of at least three denominations and executing a money receiving management for the coins. The coin receiving system comprises presorting means for broadly sorting the coins by size into those of at least two groups. A coin identifying means identifies the coins of each of the groups formed by broadly sorting the coins by the presorting means. A rejecting means rejects coins that could not be identified by the coin identifying means. A main sorting means sorts, by denomination, the coins of the respective groups identified by the coin identifying means, and money receiving means counts the amount of money represented by the coins identified by the coin identifying means to receive the money.
The coin receiving system can sort coins similarly to the foregoing coin sorting apparatus, and receive money represented by the sorted coins.
Preferably, the coin receiving system further includes different coin sorting means for sorting out different coins that have been identified as coins of different denominations from those of coins capable of being sorted by the main sorting means by the coin identifying means. The different coins are sorted out by the different coin sorting means so that the main sorting means can sort coins more smoothly.
Preferably, the coin identifying means is adapted to identify the different coins, and the money receiving means is adapted to receive the coins to be sorted by the main sorting means and the different coins to be sorted by the different coin sorting means. Thus, the coin receiving system is capable of receiving money represented by the coins including the different coins.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin sorting apparatus comprising a stationary member provided with a central coin-feed opening and a rotary disk supported for rotation disposed under the stationary member and closely adjacent to the lower surface of the stationary member. The coin sorting apparatus is constructed such that coins fed into the coin-feed opening of the stationary member slide along the lower surface of the stationary member as the rotary disk rotates. The stationary member is provided with guide structures for selectively guiding coins sliding along the lower surface thereof, according to the diameters of the coins, and the guide structures have a coin passage formed in the lower surface of the stationary member and having a radial inner edge portion configured to engage outer edges of all the coins, and at least one coin-sorting guide. The coin-sorting guide has a step formed such that a peripheral part of each of coins having diameters greater than a reference diameter runs up onto the step, with the outer edge thereof engaging the radial inner edge portion of the coin passage. An ejecting passage guides the coin that has run up onto the step and ejects the same coin outside the stationary member.
In this coin sorting apparatus, coins fed into the coin-feed opening slide along the lower surface of the stationary member as the rotary disk rotates and are selectively guided by the guide structures according to their diameters. Although the outer edges of all the coins engage the radial inner edge portion of the coin passage, only the coins having diameters greater than the predetermined reference diameter run up onto the step of the coin-sorting guide. The coins that have run up onto the step are moved along the ejecting passage and are ejected outside the stationary member. The rest of the coins that do not run up onto the step are removed further forward along the coin passage.
Thus, the coin-sorting guide sorts the coins by diameter. When two or more coin-sorting guides are used for sorting coins of at least three denominations, coins respectively having larger diameters are sorted out before those respectively having smaller diameters.
Since this coin sorting apparatus guides coins so that the outer edges of the coins engage the radial inner edge portion of the coin passage and sorts the coins by diameter, the sorting operation does not depend on centrifugal force.
In the coin sorting apparatus, it is preferable that the coin passage has radial inner and outer edges configured to engage outer edges of coins moving along the coin passage. The coin passage is configured to curve such that an upstream section thereof on the upstream side of the step extends away from a center of the stationary member. A downstream section thereof on the downstream side of the step extends to approach the center of the stationary member toward the downstream side. In this description, the terms xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d are used for signifying directional and positional attributes with respect to a direction in which coins are moved when the rotary disk is rotated in the normal direction.
A range of movement of coins on the coin passage is limited by the radial inner and outer edges of the coin passage. Since the upstream section of the coin passage is curved so as to extend away from the center of the stationary member, the radial inner edge of the upstream section of the coin passage pushes coins toward the periphery of the stationary member as the rotary disk is rotated in the normal direction so that the coins engage with radial inner edge portion thereof. The downstream section of the coin passage extends to approach the center of the stationary member toward the downstream side. Therefore, when the rotary disk is rotated in the reverse direction, the radial inner edge portion of the downstream section (upstream section when the rotary disk is reversed) is able to come into engagement with the outer edges of coins and to push coins toward the periphery of the stationary member. Therefore, it is insured that the outer edge of the coin, at a position corresponding to the step, is in contact with the radial inner edge portion of the coin passage when the rotation of the rotary disk is resumed after the rotary disk has been temporarily reversed. Thus, the coin sorting apparatus is able to continue the normal coin sorting operation when the rotation of the rotary disk in the normal direction is resumed after temporarily reversing the rotary disk.
Preferably, a pressing means for pressing the coins toward the radial inner edge of the coin passage is disposed in the upstream section of the coin passage on the upstream side of the step. The pressing means presses coins toward the radial inner edge portion of the upstream section of the coin passage on the upstream side of the land to insure that the outer edges of all the coins are brought into contact with the radial inner edge portion of the coin passage.
Preferably, the guide structures of the stationary member are constructed so that the coin that has run up onto the step lies in a substantially horizontal position. Thus the coin is prevented from being caught in the coin passage due to tilting and can be smoothly ejected.
Preferably, the guide structures of the stationary member include a step-forming plate forming the step and are movable along a width of the coin passage for positional adjustment. Thus the width of a section of the coin passage corresponding to the step can be adjusted according to the diameters of coins to be sorted. The width of the coin passage can be finely adjusted to improve the accuracy and smoothness of the coin sorting process.
Preferably, a foreign matter sorting means is disposed in the downstream section of the coin passage for selectively guiding a foreign matter having a thickness smaller than that of the thinnest coin so that the foreign matter is ejected outside the stationary member. Thus the foreign matters having a thickness smaller than those of the coins can be separated from the coins and can be ejected outside the stationary member, and the foreign matters and the coins can be separately collected.
Preferably, the foreign matter sorting means has a foreign matter passage formed in the stationary member and branching away from the coin passage to an outside of the stationary member. A gate portion is formed at a junction of the coin passage and the foreign matter passage, together with the rotary disk defining a gap of such a size as allows the foreign matter to pass, but not the thinnest coin. Whereas coins are unable to pass the gate portion at the junction of the coin passage and the foreign matter passage and move along the coin passage, foreign matters pass the gate into the foreign matter passage. Thus foreign matters are separated from coins.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin sorting apparatus comprising a stationary member provided with a central coin-feed opening. A rotary disk is supported for rotation, disposed under the stationary member closely adjacent to the lower surface of the stationary member, and has a disk body and a resilient member attached to an upper surface of the disk body. The coin sorting apparatus is constructed such that coins fed into the coin-feed opening of the stationary member slide along the lower surface of the stationary member as the rotary disk rotates. The stationary member is provided with guide structures for selectively guiding coins sliding along the lower surface thereof, according to their diameters, and the resilient member of the rotary disk has a urethane rubber layer having a surface provided with a plurality of radial grooves.
In this coin sorting apparatus, coins fed into the coin-feed opening of the stationary member slide along the lower surface of the stationary member as the rotary disk rotates. The guide structures guide the coins selectively according to their diameters to sort the coins by diameter.
The urethane rubber layer is capable of improving the abrasion resistance of the resilient member of the rotary disk more effectively than layers of other synthetic rubbers. The plurality of radial grooves formed in the surface of the urethane rubber layer engage the outer edges of coins to enhance the conveying force that can be exerted on coins in the direction of rotation of the rotary disk without increasing the holding force that restrains coins from radial movement. Since the urethane rubber layer having the surface provided with the plurality of radial grooves are subject to deformation, coins respectively having different thicknesses and arranged side by side can be surely held between the stationary member and the rotary disk. Thus the coin sorting apparatus is capable of maintaining a reliable coin sorting operation for a long period of time.
Preferably, circumferential intervals between the radial grooves at the periphery of the resilient member are smaller than a diameter of the smallest coin. Even in a state where small coins lie successively in a circumferential direction on the rotary disk, all the small coins are necessarily on the radial grooves, respectively, so that the radial grooves are able to exercise the foregoing effect thereof at all times.
Preferably, the urethane rubber layer of the resilient member is formed of a thermoplastic urethane rubber. The urethane rubber layer provided with the radial grooves of the thermoplastic urethane rubber can be easily formed by injection molding.
Preferably, the resilient member has a porous resilient layer underlying the urethane rubber layer. Thus the resilient member is highly compressible and is capable of flexibly dealing with coins respectively having different thicknesses.
Preferably, the porous resilient layer is formed of rubber sponge. The resilient member including the porous resilient layer of rubber sponge having particularly high resilience is capable of surely holding adjacently arranged coins respectively having different thicknesses.
Preferably, a part of at least one of the radial grooves of the urethane rubber layer is configured to have a depth shallower than other parts of the same groove so as to serve as an indicator. As the urethane rubber layer is abraded gradually, the bottom surface of the part serving as the indicator first becomes flush with the upper surface of the abraded urethane rubber layer so as to notify the abrasion of the urethane rubber layer or to provide information for deciding the time for replacing the resilient member with a new one.
Preferably, a metal plate, detachable from the disk body, is fixed to the lower surface of the resilient member. The metal plate, detachable from the disk body, facilitates work for replacing the resilient member with a new one.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin sorting apparatus comprising a passage member having a substantially horizontal passage surface and provided with an ejecting hole. A guide member extends on the passage surface of the passage member to guide coins along the passage surface from the upstream side toward the downstream side of the passage member. A convey or belt extends so as to hold coins together with the passage surface of the passage member to convey coins along the guide member from an upstream side toward a downstream side of the passage member. A support roller is disposed under the ejecting hole opposite to the conveyor belt. The ejecting hole of the passage member is contiguous with the guide member and has a guiding side wall extending obliquely away from the guide member toward the downstream side of the passage member. The support roller is adapted to be turned between a coin-passing position where the upper end thereof is at a level not lower than that of the upper edge of the guiding side wall, and a coin-ejecting position where the upper end thereof is at a level lower than that of the upper edge of the guiding side wall.
The coin sorting apparatus in the fifth aspect of the present invention has the following features.
(i) When the support roller is at the coin-passing position, a coin guided for movement along the passage surface by the guide member and conveyed by the conveyor belt is held between the support roller and the conveyor belt in a range corresponding to the ejecting hole and does not drop into the ejecting hole and passes the ejecting hole.
(ii) When the support roller is at the coin-ejecting position, a coin guided for movement along the passage surface by the guide member and conveyed by the conveyor belt drops through the ejecting hole from its front end onto the support roller, and the outer edge of the coin engages the guiding side wall. The guiding side wall guides the coin so as to move laterally away from the guide member toward the downstream side of the passage surface. Consequently, the coin moves obliquely laterally away from the support roller and drops through the ejecting hole.
Thus, the coin is moved obliquely laterally on the support roller into the ejecting hole and to drop from the support roller, instead of being moved and dropped straight in a conveying direction along the support roller. Thus the coin to be ejected can be quickly moved away from the support roller to advance the timing of returning the support roller to the support position.
A coin passing over the support roller located at the support position is held between the passage surface and the conveyor belt when a part on the side of the guide member of the coin runs onto the passage surface after passing the guiding side edge of the ejecting hole. Even if the support roller is turned from the coin-passing position to the coin-ejecting position in this state, the coin does not drop into the ejecting hole and passes the ejecting hole, and the succeeding coin drops into the ejecting hole.
Thus, coins can be sorted with reliability even if the timing of turning the support roller from the coin-passing position to the coin-ejecting position and that of turning the support roller from the coin-ejecting position to the coin-passing position are advanced. Consequently, the coin sorting apparatus is capable of operating at a sorting speed higher than that at which conventional coin sorting apparatuses operate.
Since a coin moving in the conveying direction is made to pass the ejecting hole straight or is made to drop obliquely laterally into the ejecting hole, the difference between the diameter of the largest coin that is able to drop into the ejecting hole when the support roller is set at the coin-ejecting position and that of the smallest coin that can pass over the ejecting hole when the support roller is set at the coin-passing position can be greater than that in conventional coin sorting apparatuses. Therefore, the coin sorting apparatus in the fifth aspect of the invention is capable of sorting coins having diameters in a range wider than that of diameters of coins that can be sorted by conventional coin sorting apparatuses.
The support roller may include a support shaft supported for rotation substantially in parallel to the passage surface and substantially perpendicularly to a conveying direction in which coins are conveyed. An eccentric member is eccentrically mounted on the support shaft to have a major-radius section and a minor-radius section, and a free roller member is mounted for free rotation on the circumference of the eccentric member. The support shaft of the support roller is turned so that the major-radius section faces up to set the support roller at the coin-passing position, where the free roller member is at an up position, and is turned so that the minor-radius section faces up to set the support roller at the coin-ejecting position, where the free roller member is at a down position.
The coin sorting apparatus may further include a coin identifying means for identifying coins disposed in a position corresponding to the upstream side of the ejecting hole of the passage member. A controller changes the position of the support roller between the coin-passing position and the coin-ejecting position, depending on the result of identification by the coin identifying means. Thus the working position of the support roller is determined selectively on the basis of the result of an identification of the coin identifying means either to pass the coin examined by the coin identifying means or to eject the same coin.
Preferably, the coin sorting apparatus further includes a pressure roller adapted to press the coin through the conveyor belt against the support roller to hold the coin between the conveyor belt and the support roller. The coin can be firmly held between the conveyor belt and the support roller when the pressure roller exerts pressure on the conveyor belt. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin receiving system comprising coin feed means for feeding mixed coins including new coins of a new currency unit and old coins of an old currency unit one by one. A coin identifying means identifies the coins fed by the coin feed means by denomination. A new coin holding unit temporarily holds the new coins. An old coin holding unit temporarily holds old coins. A sorting means sorts the new coins from the old coins and delivers the new coins to the new coin holding unit and the old coins to the old coin holding unit.
A new coin storing unit stores the new coins received from the new coin holding unit. An old coin storing unit stores the old coins received from the old coin holding unit. A counting means counts a total amount of money in the new currency unit and a total amount of money in the old currency unit on the basis of results of identification by the coin identifying means. Arithmetic means converts the total amount of money in the old currency unit into a converted amount of money as a corresponding total amount of money in the new currency unit by using a predetermined exchange rate, and calculates a sum total amount of money in the new currency unit by adding the total amount of money in the new currency unit and the converted amount of money together. A display means displays information of the total amount of money in the new currency unit, the total amount of money in the old currency unit, the converted amount of money, and the sum total amount of money in the new currency unit. Accepting-instruction means gives an accepting instruction to receive money according to the information displayed by the display means. Money receiving means stores the new and old coins that have been temporarily reserved in the new and old coin holding units, and in the new and old coin storing units, respectively, in response to the accepting instruction provided by the accepting-instruction means, and receives money for the sum total amount of money in the new currency unit.
The coin receiving system is capable of dealing with coins of both the new currency unit and the old currency unit, and of receiving money for the xe2x80x9csum total amount of money in the new currency unitxe2x80x9d represented by those coins of both currency units. Since the display means displays the total amount of money in the new currency unit, the converted amount of money, and the sum total amount of money in the new currency unit, the money receiving procedure can be executed in response to the accepting instruction after precisely confirming those amounts of money displayed by the display means.
Preferably, the coin receiving system further includes printing-instruction means for providing an accepting instruction for the accepting-instruction means, and providing a printing instruction. A printing means prints out at least part of the information displayed by the display means in response to the printing instruction provided by the printing-instruction means. The printing instruction means provides the accepting instruction and the printing instruction to accomplish the money receiving procedure, and the contents of the money receiving procedure can be printed for recording.
Preferably, the sorting means is adapted to sort the new coins by denomination and sort out the old coins regardless of denomination. The new coin holding unit and the new coin storing unit have divisions respectively for holding temporarily and storing the new coins sorted by denomination, and the old coin holding unit and the old coin storing unit are adapted to temporarily reserve and store the old coins of mixed denominations. Thus, new coins to be reused can be collected in individual denominations, and old coins not to be reused and to be disposed of are collected in mixed denominations to achieve efficient coin recovery.